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The Verge interviews Phil Spencer - ‘The business isn’t how many consoles you sell’
- Thread starter SuikerBrood
- Start date
To be clear, for now there isn't any crystal clear evidence around that Lockhart was cancelled. Nor is there any evidence MS is still planning to launch that SKU.
We've all read certain opinion pieces as well as journalists and other industry-related players which statet they've heard "rumors", and that's pretty much it. The latest ones I've read here strongly suggested Lockhart is cancelled, but that might as well be the result of my selective perception...
What I observed is that MS clearly changed their PR standpoint, as you called it, since April. Neither right before nor during E3 did MS refer to Anaconda as being determined to become the - by far - most powerful next console out there. Instead the Head of Microsoft Game Studios literally said "we're also in a world where speed is starting not to matter". Which for all I know indicated there was indeed a change of plan regarding the market proposition of the Anaconda SKU.
What's more, everyone's talking about Anaconda and PS5 devkits and how they compare to each other. Yet there isn't a single one out there talking about Lockhart devkits. Which is kinda odd since Lockhart is supposed to be the baseline for next gen gaming - and how can anyone develop a next gen exclusive game without knowning that baseline hardware (might be possible for all I know, still though!).
We have no information whatsoever about the kind of profit the Xbox division makes.
And there is a reason why we don't here concrete numbers from MS.
Makes sense. Back in the day companies used to sell consoles at a loss so I guess it hasn't really always been a bout that for a while but more about the amount of software you can get sold to make up for all of the costs. Stuff is weird now a days with microtransactions, DLC, and subscriptions so it'll be interesting to see how things are moving forward. That said... more consoles sold will help with that lol.
That's a myth, and you may feel free to believe it, but MS as usual fights on several fronts. Don't believe me? Just watch that cute little Scarlett reveal again.
Ms is releasing Scarlett..they are clearly still competing with sony in the gaming space. Saying they are not is laughable.
Given they're also now stating that all first party games will run on Xbox One but "play best on Scarlett", I think it's likely that an entry level model (Lockhart) has indeed been scrapped. Xbox One S is your entry level Scarlett, essentially.
Original Xbox sold better than Gamecube, 360 fought the good fight with sony last gen as equals, and Xbox One has sold way more consoles than Wii Ü that is the Nintendo console that shared generation with One. With their ups and lows Microsoft have a healthy business in games and is investing.
Microsoft is a big player in games by their own merits.
Even if they lose EU and win NA, they'll start talking hardware numbers just like they did with 360.
Ok but that's not what you said? Ms will dominate next gen? How? In order for that to happen a massive shift World wide would need to happen.
No so you are implying world wide? If so then lol..good luck with that prediction.
It is indeed very clear that Microsoft has changed a lot in a good way since Nadella took charge.
They're not going to talk about a budget piece of hardware at this type of reveal. Lockhearts only selling point will be price, and it would be hard to communicate that without pricing both consoles. They're only going to talk about anaconda up until we get the full reveal
Remember the 2-3 months the slim outsold ps4? They ran an ad saying "Best selling console in the US;"
The market is transitioning to cloud + content so of course in the current time, they are battling on all fronts and they have the means to do it. That's why we are still getting scarlett and whatever comes next after it.
How about this:
If they dominate at least NA, they'll start boasting about HW numbers.
From a PR perspective, his response more confirms Lockhart than denies it. If it was cancelled we would have said: We will only have a single SKU at launch or something in that sense. Saying that he is only talking about the most powerful one, confirms there are less powerful machines that he is simply choosing not to talk about.
Regarding the insiders, the ones that talked about Lockhart talked about many more stuff, including project Scarlett itself. They knew the code names, some details as raytracing and SSD months before this E3, and at least from what I last saw they all said Lockhart is still in the game.
As for devkits, there was never going to be Lockhart devkits, as Ms provides a single devkit that can change the performance profile. It did so with X that replaced S, and according to insiders the Anaconda devkit goes even further with profiles from scarlet all the way to anaconda.
Of course, there's no guarantee that Ms will launch both, in the end it may as well decide against to, but I don't see any indication that it's currently cancelled.
I really like that Microsoft carved their own lane to do something different than follow behind Sony. It may be lame for some because that change is hard to swallow and we are yet in another Microsoft era where they will change the Dynamics of gaming like they did with paying for online....but the truth is....someone has to. So I agree with what he's saying. It does force everyone else to consider their position and make the right moves to accommodate it or again, find their own lane. So it will be interesting to see where this goes.
Personally, I'm still down with the traditional, but I am very here for whatever they choose to do.
Personally, I'm still down with the traditional, but I am very here for whatever they choose to do.
I think they can easily dominate NA. It's a very fickle region..
They being happy about their box selling well doesn't mean their strategy revolves around that.
Of course that they want to Xbox to sell the most, doesn't mean their strategy is unsuccessful if it doesn't.
I don't think you understand what is being said in the interview. It's not "Microsoft doesn't care about selling lots of consoles". The gist of it is that selling consoles is one of the ways to achieve the goal of getting people to use and make purchases through your ecosystem. One of the ways, not the only one anymore like it used to be in the past.
It will take a screw up ala PS3..Playstation is also very strong in NA, as per this gen and every other gen minus PS3. They won't dominate NA either. We will see. There is nothing "Easy" about it. Playstation is a formidable foe people still like to downplay.
I agree with all this, but let's not leave the Switch out.
True the Wii U started this gen, but the Switch is counted as this gen too.
I think something that goes under the radar a bit is the Switch will more than likely pass the XBO in sales.
I hope so. Like DF said, let your streaming service be the affordable SKU. Having Lockhart will be a nightmare for devs.
Microsoft as a whole is moving towards a platform agnostic services model. Clearly the Xbox One not selling as well as anticipated has a role in the division's shift in philosophy to align with the company as a whole. The division being in a rut until recent memory is the groundwork they needed to make these sweeping changes. Had the Xbox One been experiencing groundbreaking sales like the Playstation 4 and Switch, would they be moving in this direction so rapidly? Absolutely not, why make a hard pivot away from something that's clearly working for you. That's why I believe that Sony cannot and will not follow Microsoft's footsteps, and that's because it'd be foolish - and investors will not sacrifice immediate revenue forfeiture for the potential of greater long term gains.
Business isn't static. It's always growing, always changing. And to dig up quotes from Microsoft years ago in an attempt to score some points against them now is nothing more than console war BS. Microsoft wouldn't have purchased 7 studios, built 2-3 additional ones, and given the notion that they'll acquire more - if they didn't truly believe this service oriented, platform agnostic, streaming tinged experience wasn't worth putting money behind. It's certainly a departure from what we're used to seeing from the platform holders, but that does not necessarily means it's deficient. It remains to be seen if these changes will bare fruit from Microsoft.
Business isn't static. It's always growing, always changing. And to dig up quotes from Microsoft years ago in an attempt to score some points against them now is nothing more than console war BS. Microsoft wouldn't have purchased 7 studios, built 2-3 additional ones, and given the notion that they'll acquire more - if they didn't truly believe this service oriented, platform agnostic, streaming tinged experience wasn't worth putting money behind. It's certainly a departure from what we're used to seeing from the platform holders, but that does not necessarily means it's deficient. It remains to be seen if these changes will bare fruit from Microsoft.
Gamepass, xcloud and games for gold are all derivatives(not literally) of ps plus and psnow. They haven't really carved their own lane they are following what sony created(onlive for the streaming bit).
Damn, forgot all about the leaks, rumors.
Was waiting for this E3 to see if they panned out, looks like did. For the base specs anyway.
Still can't believe SSD will be in next gen consoles.
Precisely. I've owned both this gen and love both but MS messed up this gen and SONY dominated basically every region worldwide with the PS4 along with PS1/PS2. They messed up with PS3 due to pricing and learned from that with the PS4. As you can see, they've always dominated NA and worldwide and the only reason MS dominated NA last gen was because SONY screwed up with the PS3.
SONY will continue to dominate worldwide if they continue with their message on the PS5 as they did with PS4.
The switch is the next gen console from Nintendo and will compete with PS5 and Xbox Whatever.
I get the feeling here is Microsoft again, trying to push the next 'big' thing or market shift ahead of the others (cloud gaming, kinect, physical/digital hybrid last gen for example) In the end, gamers (especially older ones) are a stubborn bunch that like the old console model and it simply won't work to push into these new models - they may end up losing even more market share next gen.
Makes no sense is he saying he would be happy if Xbox Scarlett only sold 10 million console lifetime so long as people sub to gamepass and buy games?
It absolutely matters how many consoles you sales.
More consoles = more people buying games
Unless you want to become third party and only depend on services that are available everywhere else. That's their future it seems.
I'm still trying to understand how you make more money from $10 a month than selling the game for $60 per day.
It absolutely matters how many consoles you sales.
More consoles = more people buying games
Unless you want to become third party and only depend on services that are available everywhere else. That's their future it seems.
I'm still trying to understand how you make more money from $10 a month than selling the game for $60 per day.
These "toy" companies (an attempt at being disingenuous) have been dominating Xbox while they have had their heads stuck in the cloud.
If that's the case why even have an Xbox console? They already release all their games for PC so why not just create an Xbox Windows PC with standard parts and call it a day?
They'd still be able to do GamePass (for PC), create their 1st party games for PC, etc. They'd lose nothing except their R&D costs would go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down.
They'd still be able to do GamePass (for PC), create their 1st party games for PC, etc. They'd lose nothing except their R&D costs would go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down.
It should pass the Xbox One in sales this year. It was already at 34.74 million in April.
It's weird position because they have been releasing their stuff in the middle of the gen (sort of) but imo Switch is both this gen and next. Their next Switch model (pro or whatever it'll be called) will also be part of this gen along with next gen.
Xbox is supposed to be making money for MS not just itself. MS uses Xbox division for it's creation of an ecosystem.
I see zero reasons why not mention more affordaple console too already. I am willing to make avatar bet that we only get one console.
Doesn't really change anything you said...lets hope MS is not as silly to downplay the competition as you. Playstation is also making money for Sony nor just Playstation, not really news.
The Switch is out since early 2017 and is competing with PS4 and Xone right now.
A console which came out over two years ago is not "next gen".
I assure you, the Nintendo Switch is a generation 8 console. It was released two years ago.
There's no doubt Nintendo will release a new console for generation 9, sometime after November 2020.
So 360 was competing with PS2, Gamecube, Xbox OG and Dreamcast till PS3 was released? A gen start when the first company launch their console. A console being a 0.5+0.5 gen doesn't make any sense.
You do know that MS has had more money than Sony and Nintendo combined since they have got into the console business, and that money has yet to help them win over sony and nintendo not one time? Yea so this isn't even about MS vs Sony and Nintendo, its about Xbox vs Playstation Vs Nintendo in the video game department. Period